Customer Reviews

One Trick Pony

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're looking to start (or add to) your collection of Paul Simon music, this album is a great choice. This is the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, written by, directed by and starring Simon. The movie is just a B movie, but this album is anything but. The title track, 'Late in the Evening' appears for the first time on this album, (later on other CD's and re-arranged for the Concert in the Park CD, 1991) and is a wonderful, uptempo latin-style song with a throbing bass line and a full brass section. Other great songs are 'How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns' and 'Jonah'. The whole album is smooth and features the great Steve Gadd on drums and the late Richard Tee on keyboards.

One of Paul Simon's best. The movie may have been mediocre, but the soundtrack was a phenom. The title cut was a smooth groove with a great instrumental background. "Late In The Evening" is a joyously happy piece, and I defy anyone to hear it without tapping feet, fingers, and whatever else moves to a great beat. Ditto "Ace In The Hole".

There is rock-solid backing by drummer (and occasional vocalist) Richard Tee and a fantastic jazz guitarist, Eric Gale.

The album also has a softer side, with gentle songs like "Nobody", "That's Why God Made Movies" and "Long, Long Day". Like the rest of Simon's really fine body of work, it moves from exuberant, happy danceable songs to thought provoking lyrics, and songs wonderfully easy on the ears.

Great and regularly thought provoking songwriting. Here, combined with some great instrumentals and fine vocal work. Call him whatever you want, but Paul Simon is no One Trick Pony.

On a cold, grey winter's afternoon or bleak windy night, curl up by the fire with a blanket, a book, a cup of hot chocolate, and this album. Most of the music has a distinctly 1970s sound to it (as did several tracks on Simon's preceding solo albums), with lots of background strings, but there's a weariness to the album's many ballads that transcends being dated. "How the Heart Approaches What it Yearns", "Johah", "Nobody", and most of all "Long Long Day" are beautiful, quiet, intimate songs in the same spirit as the title track of HEARTS AND BONES -- but without the boring fluff-pop songs that are found scattered on that album. This is probably the most musically cohesive album from Simon's early solo years, and it's my second-favorite of his solo work (GRACELAND takes top honors. :]

As far as I'm concerned, this is the album where Paul Simon peaked in his solo career, although I can see why the movie itself flopped. Albums that followed got worse and worse or un-Paul Simon, should I say. I ceased to follow Paul Simon's music after Rhythem of the Saints.
The music contained here is basically Paul Simon performing with core members of STUFF, then a real hot fusion group consisted of top jazz/fusion musicians; late Eric Gale on lead guitar, Steve Gadd on drums and, as Paul used to put it, infamous late Richard Tee on keyboard. Those three "first callers" (those who get the first call to accompany when top musicians record or tour) are extremely well featured in all songs that I really dig this album as a jazz fan as well. Eric Gale's guitar playing is so fantastic that you hardly take notice of Paul's guitar performance, which used to impress the audience during the days of S&G. I was routinely working 12 hours a day when the album was originally released. As a married man with kids, I personally related a lot to the song "God Bless The Absentee." While my enthusiusm in Paul's new tunes started to shrink after this album, it's no conincidence that my interest in jazz grew a lot more in the process, because this album, in a way, was a wake up call to open up my eyes and ears to jazz.

Every song is outstanding, but especially "Jonah" and "How the Heart Approaches What it Yearns." This album is introspective, like HEARTS AND BONES, but significantly better (not so sterile). It's my favorite Paul Simon album, and certainly one of his best overall.

This often overlooked album has fantastic tracks. The movie is actually interesting as well, featuring live performances from Sam & Dave, Lovin' Spoonful, and the B52's.

Check out the movie if only to see the boredom inspired "death game," in which the band reminisces rock stars that have left us.

I first heard tracks from the album in 1980 watching a documentary feature narrated by Dick Cavett to promote the film. For the best ever version of Long Long Day, see The Muppet Show, in which Paul plays his black Gibson guitar in a moving solo performance, punctuated by oohing and ahhing muppets.

P.S. go right now and buy One Trick Pony, There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Still Crazy After All These Years and Paul Simon. Do it now! Listen to this, one of the truly great guitarists.

Great CD by Paul Simon. Ace in the Hole and Late in the Evening are simply rockin blues. One Trick Pony is also a cool Simonized tune. Several great jazzy blues also inhabit this CD - Jonah, Belvedere Hotel and God Bless the Absentee to name a couple also have great lyrics. Great album to just sit back and listen to with no distractions.

One of his best. Check out the track "Jonah".

ONE TRICK PONY is a strange paradox-- an album and film project with a lot of history and publicity, but hardly any recognition. It seemed to be news at the time when Simon, already a laborious songwriter whose albums took anywhere from two to three years on average to generate, deliberately took time away from making albums, focusing instead on other multimedia, first appearing in a few movies (Annie Hall), then making many appearances on Saturday Night Live (the turkey costume easily his shining moment) and hosting his own low-rating, but really damn funny, television special-- and finally, writing and starring in his own movie with accompanying soundtrack. After years of work, the movie opened, the movie closed, practically within a week of eachother. It showed up on video, occasionally aired on WGN and other networks late at night, and had a mild resurgance on VH1's Movies That Rock. The album, meanwhile, fared better, but still didn't capture audiences or critics in ways his earlier efforts had-- all in all, nothing to destroy a career, but I'm sure it wasn't the reaction Simon hoped for (or expected).
But regardless, if you do happen to find this album and take the time to listen to it, you will be pleasently surprised. This is probably Simon's most intellectual album-- the lyrics are very thought-provoking and deep, and being a soundtrack, they revolve around the subject of facing one's own age, realizing that dreams will not always become reality, wondering where it all went wrong, yet still following the one thing that does make sense somehow-- music. "Lord I am a working man, and music is my trade," Simon sings in "God Bless The Absentee." In other songs, such as the wonderful "How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns," Simon beautifully weds simple images ("wondering as the television burns") and brief pastiches of everyday life with the desire, nay, just the question of how and why we desire others. The poetry is moving, abstract but still coherent. There is some brilliant prose on the album-- by this point in his career, Simon was absolutely a master of the English language and carving images out of a few simple words.
However, sometimes, it's a bit much. There's almost too much introspection, a little too much analysis, the songs are all about the same theme and after a while, it gets repetitive. This would not necessarily be a problem (after all, he did somewhat the same thing on "Still Crazy"), except the music tends to suffer the same fate. The sound very strongly recalls "Still Crazy," only on this album Simon actually recruited a house band to play on each song (Tony Levin on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Eric Gale on guitar), and so the sound is fairly consistent on each song, while "Still Crazy" offered thematic unity but still had some diversity throughout. Therefore, the album is interesting, at times very moving and brilliant, but also seems monotonous in places.
Nevertheless, there are two absolute Simon classics, and several others that come really friggin close. "Late In The Evening" is one of Simon's funkiest pieces, backed by a powerhouse horn section and just brilliant Steve Gadd rhythms. "Ace In The Hole" is also a great romp, with some of Simon's greatest lyrics: "Some people say music, that's your ace in the hole; Just your ordinary rhythm and blues or your basic rock and roll; You can sit ontop of the beat, you can lean on the side of the beat, you can hang from the bottom of the beat, but you gotta admit that the music is sweet!" "Nobody," "That's Why God Made The Movies," "Oh Marion," and the title track are also great tunes. In fact, each tune is really a teriffic rhymin Simon song, the problem is when placed together they sort of weigh eachother down-- the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It's damn near impossible to call a Simon album weak, and this album is by no means weak-- it's just a little weaker than some of his other work. But get it-- it is essential Paul Simon, and required for any collection. You will enjoy it, believe me!!

This album is, for me, absolutely superb and one of Simon's best. I LOVE the closing track "Long, Long Day" which achieves what it intends with perfection. "Ace In The Hole" and, in particular, the ace brass mid-section to "Late In The Evening" are wonderfully joyful and cheery. You can just hear how free Simon feels with all this instrumentation to hand. "How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns" is beautiful and mournful and "Jonah" a subtle masterpiece. The two live tracks "One-Trick Pony" and "Ace In The Hole" are stunning - how many people can sound this good live?

Buy this album. Now. You won't regret it.